Stilts, Part 2

By Jere Hough Meteorologist / Feature Reporter

In an effort to reduce hurricane losses in Coastal Mississippi, new codes required houses in flood zones to be elevated on stilts or pilings. That can involve a lot of stairs to climb just to get to the front door. So a new household "accessory" is becoming very popular. Stilts, Part 2

Published: Tue, May 20, 2008 - 2:16 pm

Jere Hough

A personal elevator makes a noisy landing. It's becoming a familiar sound in Pass Christian, Mississippi.
Dorothy Scarborough stands by the front door of her elevated house. "I'm a heart patient," she says, "and it's kind of hard on me. But I had the elevator put it, so it takes care of me."
It turns out many stilt homes have elevators....and maybe healthier residents.
Kris Oustalet explains why his family is a bit more fit. "We thought we were going to use the elevator a lot more than we do. We mostly just use it for groceries. My folks just usually use the stairs."
Resident Jerry Carrie observes, "Well, that's one way of getting my exercise, you know!"
The cause of the rise in elevator sales are all the stilt homes being built on the Mississippi Coast, but stilts are not a complete defense against hurricanes. For one thing, a quick look around shows surprising variation in elevation. One cause: new homes in this working class neighborhood were built soon after Katrina by volunteer groups. Recent flood maps show some of them are too low, and sea level water lurks only a few blocks away.
In neighboring Bay St. Louis, Tommy Kidd's new house is built at the same elevation as his pre-Katrina house, fifteen and a half feet above sea level. His house is one of many fronting a series of old canals dug near St. Louis Bay. Katrina brought twenty-eight feet of water into his yard...nearly submersing his house.
"Katrina was the worst experience for anybody that's ever been in a hurricane...We're convinced that that was a once in a lifetime or maybe a four hundred or five hundred year event...I feel extremely safe."
Jere Hough walks along the water in front of Kidd's house and comments, "There are still many unresolved issues: elevation, insurance, the chance we may face another Katrina. But the trade-off is a realization of a common dream...to live in a neighborhood like this.
New flood maps for Coastal Mississippi designate homes in some areas to be 26 feet above mean sea level. New maps for Coastal Alabama will be completed in a few years.